1989 Elton Report

This assignment will address the role of the teacher in managing behaviour in the classroom. The essay will explore how teachers can differentiate and vary their teaching strategies to suit individuals’ needs and create a safe learning environment for all children. It will also explore the different approaches to behaviour management, for example pro-active and re-active and preventative strategies put in place in preparation for bad behaviour.

Research in the 1989 Elton Report and more recently completed by Ofsted in 2005 suggest that low level disruptive behaviours are the most commonly reported type of misbehaviour . Examples of this include talking while the teacher is talking, leaving ones seat or calling out (Rogers 1998) . Although these

In terms of interactional theory, emotion, cognition and behaviour are linked which means the way we think and feel affects how we behave (Harden et al 2003). The teacher has a responsibility to be approachable and to treat all children with equal respect in order for children to copy this behaviour. If all children feel equal and no child is made to feel singled out or neglected, the overall atmosphere in the learning environment will be positive, which will encourage positive behaviour. To avoid labelling pupils as problematic children, teachers need to be aware of the reasons behind undesirable behaviour, particularly if coming from a child who is normally well-behaved, in order to find a solution to it. Algozzine, Daunic and Smith (2010) suggest prevention strategies are preferred to general behaviour management because of the potential to reduce the development of new undesirable behaviours. These new behaviours could come from children who aren’t usually problematic, therefore teachers need to be aware of changes in childrens’

It has been argued by Wheldall and Lam (2006) that children who are seated in rows, rather than in grouped tables, are much more likely to be focused. This resulted in less disruptive behaviour and more positive comments from the teachers. Children seated in rows may limit disruptive behaviour, although teachers, in their planning, may wish to consider the type of work the children will be engaged in (Finn and Panazzo 2004) , for example group work. This is because the children may find it difficult to communicate with all children in their group, if sat in rows, as they will not all be able to see each other. Also, it is important to consider who each child is sat next to, for example teachers may want to avoid seating all boys on one table as this may result in them becoming unfocused and distracted. Research by Merrett (1993) suggests that sitting boys with girls tends to reduce disruption , as they are less likely to become off-task. Similarly, until the teacher is familiar with their class, he/she will be unable to organise the seating plan perfectly, and may need to change it every term to allow the children to communicate with people they wouldn’t usually speak